This handle was developed to reduce the difficulty of the side-to-side motion and advancement of the concrete screed over a freshly poured concrete ribbon or pad, while providing the concrete screed handle assembly at an affordable price.
As would be known by a person familiar with the art, the screeding operation is very tiresome and awkward. The screed board operator(s) either bend forward at the waist or assume a crouching position beside the screed board. They then grasp the board (usually a 2.times.4 or 2.times.6 common on a construction site) with both hands, thumbs on one side and fingers on the other, variably moving their arms side-to-side while pulling the screed board toward them over the wet concrete surface. This motion is necessary to settle the aggregate and level the surface under the screed board to a pre-established grade height. The board must pass in this manner over the entire surface of the pour. A well-designed handle providing rigid clamping and comfortable grasping would make the operation much less tiring and quicker.
The screed board operators frequently find it necessary to remove high spots and fill voids in the wet concrete surface immediately in the path of the screed board. To do this, they need to be at the concrete surface level, usually making the corrections with a trowel. For this reason, a taller handle assembly such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,427 issued to Nisenbaum, though it does make the screeding process less tiresome because of operating the screed board from a standing position, limits the flexibility of the operator as the handle must remain upright during the screeding process. In my opinion, this necessary upright position would make concrete surface corrections difficult.
The handle-screed board assembly in U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,416 issued to Bishop is effective in diminishing the tiresome effects of screeding, however, my handle assembly as a unit is more rigid with reference to the side-to-side motion of the screed board because of two separate clamping points along the screed board on each handle assembly.
In addition, this handle installs with less physical effort and is more adaptable to periodic adjustment than the previously mentioned handle by Bishop because of the self-contained screw-type clamping mechanism on the handle to screed board clamp points.
The grasping points on the handle are comfortably sized and spaced. The handle may be used from either a crouching or bent-at-the-waist position. The preceding features make this concrete screed handle assembly superior over any currently on the market or patented in the past.